The Different Career Patterns of Two Pathbreaking Women Biologists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

This article analyzes the different career patterns of Naomi Feinbrun, a botanist, and Elisheva Goldschmidt, a geneticist, both of whom began their PhD studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the 1930s, and were among the first women to receive professorships at the same university. Although Feinbrun experienced early career obstacles, she encountered less opposition while on the higher rungs of the academic ladder. In contrast, Goldschmidt, who operated according to a much more ambitious and competitive pattern than Feinbrun, did not suffer significant barriers at the beginning of her academic career, but encountered hurdles at a later stage. This article offers a close, comparative analysis of their careers, so that the distinctions and specificities of early and late career obstacles become clear. It argues that by paying attention to the intersectionality of gender with other categories like social and cultural backgrounds as well as personal characteristics, a complex picture emerges that moves beyond traditional gender-based sociological explanations that draw on the metaphors of “glass ceiling” and “sticky floor.” As the article shows, furthermore, even women scientists who belonged to similar disciplines in the same university and were active in the same time period, could face quite different challenges. Such comparative studies on the career patterns of women scientists might offer new possibilities for the many historical challenges faced by women scientists in various global contexts.